author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
We left the longest walk of the trip until the second week, when we hoped to be more mountain fit. Even so, when we stood on the summit of Toll Creagach and looked across Loch Mullardoch to its four associated Munros (the ‘Mullardoch Munros’), we could see quite clearly that it was going to be a loooong day.
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There are quite a few Scottish glens (or valleys) that get described as ‘the most beautiful in Scotland’. Obviously, they can’t all be, but Glen Affric is certainly up there among the best. There are 16 Munros in the surrounding area. Our plan was to climb as many as we could in two weeks.
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I left you a month ago having climbed the easy trekking peak Dzo Jongo East and made a valiant attempt on Dzo Jongo West in a whiteout. With the peaks happily under our belt, we experienced four days of trekking joy as we crossed high passes linking the Langtang and Chang valleys in a landscape that changed with every day.
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With crappy weather on the cards for the Easter weekend, we decided to do something a bit more relaxing. I had never been to the Pembrokeshire Coast, with its rugged cliffs and secluded coves, nor walked the coastal Preseli Hills that were the source of the giant stones of Stonehenge.
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Yes, folks. It’s time for the next mesmerising instalment of my award-winning video diaries. I left you a month ago having passed through the villages and oases of the narrow Markha Valley. High up in the wide open spaces of the Nimaling Valley, it was time to tackle the mountains we had come to climb.
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It’s over three years since I last released a series of my trademark shit videos on YouTube. Some of you are wondering if a yeti got my tongue. Eighteen months have gone by since I trekked in Ladakh, and the hilarious footage that I took has been lying untouched on my hard drive. It’s time to give it an airing.
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Another Christmas, and another cottage in Scotland for a week. What would the weather hold in store for us this year, and would we get up any mountains? The forecast wasn’t promising, but one good day in the hills could make it all worthwhile.
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The weather had been good for the best part of two weeks, but the rain gods were preparing for the last dance. We were about to cross the Spasimata Slabs, the most dangerously exposed section of the trek, and we were going to cross them at the worst possible time.
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When I signed off the last post, I was enjoying a delicious pork rosti and a pichet of vin rosé at a palatial hotel tucked away in the forests of Corsica. How on earth did I prise myself away from that luxurious setting and get on with the hardest section of the GR20?
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I’ve known about the GR20 for over 20 years, but it slipped to the back of my mind as I focused on peak bagging in the greater ranges. I sensed that long-distance hiking in Europe was something I would enjoy later in life. I guessed I must have reached that stage now.
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